Posts Tagged ‘florida’

Florida Happy New Decade
May all of our dreams keep continuing to manifest. peace on earth, peace in our hearts, peace in our relationships. Yes i am here in Florida at my folks in St. Pete Beach in the metropolitan area of Tampa.
It is sooo wonderful to be surrounded by water, the amazing sunsets over the water, the ibis, the pelicans,
the sounds of the waves breaking onto the shore. I feel so at home by the sea. My heart is at peace.

Whitewolf and I brought in the new year at a dance in the Gulfport Casino ballroom in Florida, dancing to the sounds of a live band playing tunes form the 30;s up to the 90’s. We met some folks,blew some nosiemakers, dnaced our prayers for the new year and watched spendid fireworks over the Bay to welcome in the new decade.

Dad’s 95th Birthday
Oh my yes i have great genes. My dad celebrated his 95th birthday with some family members at a fantastic buffet at the Wine Cellar on the beach. i ate my wat thur the celebration with spicy shrimp, smoked salmon, delicious primavera sauce, steamed brocoli, mashed potatoes with chocolate mouse and apple/strawberry strudel for desert. My stomach is rumbling for an encore. I delighted in decorating the apartment for him on December 28 with balloons, streamers, signs and lots of love.Dad told me with a sparkle in his eye that waking up to this party environment takes him back to being a young boy when his mom, dad and uncle would put up the Christmas tree with all its lights and presents on Christmas Eve so that he would come in on Christmas morning to delightful magic. How sweet is that?

FolksI am so blessed to have both my parents feisty and independent. Their minds are sharp, their wills are strong thought their bodies are breaking down and slowing down considerably more than last year. I come from a line of adventurers and hearty folks from France, Hungary and Italy. I sang the song i wrote for my Dad a decade ago to him as he was washing his breakfast dish in the kitchen as i gently moved energy with my hand up and down his spine. The magic and love we shared when i was a child when he sang me to sleep at night is rekindling and growing. We are healing emotional wounds and enjoying the precious moments we have together. My mom and I are working together to find a caregiver, and the needed stuff like vacuum cleaners. We still spat occasionally yet we are hugging more. We are both hug therapists and do our best to hug each other at least 4 to 8 times a day. Did you know there are different kinds of hugs? hand hugs, stroking hugs, group hugs, and even long distance hugs as well as the full on melting hug. Try it you’ll like it.
My folks adore the little dogs. It is so heartwarming to see my Dad and Rosie Snoodles and Fernando Little Deer( his pet names for them) snoozing together on dad’s chair. My mom loves to stroke Little Deer as she sits in her chair and talk to him as she wanders on her walker about the place. These little beings with great spirits have added much joy and life around this place.

Events FloridaI’ve been to the peace meditations around a fire at Sacred Lands as well as the coffeehouse there reminiscent of my time playing in the 70″s and went to the local “hippie” art and music gathering called the bluberry patch with some of the folks from sacred lands events http:// blueberrypatch.org There are great folks here that i have continued friendships with and so blessed to have folks to play music with, get massages, and laugh with.

May we all continue to grow, laugh, spread the joy of life through our compassion, love and kindness through the year. Blessings, Alicia Merlady

New Moon, January 15, 2010
Wedding of Alicia Merlady and Grandfather Whitewolf
Ok so this sacred union occurred on Jan 17…hey we are in the influence of this new moon so I had to include it here. What a fantastic, lovely, beautiful ecstatic time was had by all. We were so blessed to have a clearing lovely sunny warm 70 degree gentle wind day at Sacred lands in St. Petersburg, Florida where we had the ceremony on the intercostal waterway…a place that signified the union of the land and the sea.Whitewolf and I after 5 years of hanging out decided to deepen our relationship and unite the sea and the land in ourselves. My parents who are 94 and 92 reside in Florida during the winter so we had the ceremony there to have the honor of their presence at the ceremony.

Before the Day
Whitewolf and I wanted a simple ceremony. We invited about 40 folks..family and friends. Even with that in mind there were many details to attend to including flowers, cake, band, food, clothes etc. About one week before the day we looked at each other and knew why folks want to elope. We found the perfect Thai flower shop which imported orchids from Thailand and had the most wonderful store complete with fountains and altars to honor their ancestors.From them we ordered leis, corsages and flowers to make our own table decorations.
The band was a country/bluegrass flavor by 2 older couples. I had seen them preform at Sacred lands coffee house night and enjoyed the positive, happy spirit the group Something Special evoked in the listeners. The cake store we found driving around and seeing a sign off the road. This was family establishment who were happy to cater to our request of a whipped cream frosting , almond top cake and lower chocolate marble cake. Whitewolf, I sent shopping for a hawaiian shirt after viewing the outfit he wanted to wear.

Day Before
Whitewolf and I arrived at Sacred Lands the day before to clean, set up and decorate. We were so blessed to have a team of 4 others assisting us in the task. Whitewolf, being the impeccable warrior announced he was taking Richard and washing down the floor with salt water and then a sage rinse. At the time i couldn’t believe my ears, yet as the sage wash permeated thru the air before using for a rinse I was glad that he had insisted on cleaning the energies. Meanwhile I and the ladies, made table decorations,
set up the linens, wrapped tulle around the head table, set up the room, covered things with colored Mexican blankets, created sitting areas, and generally fung shuied the area. Last but not least we blew up 50 colored balloons to liven up the stage where the band would perform. We sat down around 5 pm admiring our work which had been supervised by Snuggles the black cat and scurried off to our respective evening ceremonies.

Night Before
The two weeks before the date the weather was cold…colder than recorded here where plants were freezing and crops and fish dying from the cold. The night before was the grandmother/father of all thunderstorms with howling winds and great flashes of light and sound. Whitewolf related to us that in Hawaiian mythology the Gods and Goddesses were making love..and a great time they were having too. Our respective
ladies and mens gatherings the evening before the union were especially special to the folks who attended. Whitewolf and Eric one of the custodians of sacred lands as well as our caterer enjoyed watching natures show as they had a pipe ceremony to honor Whitewolf’s passage as a lone wolf.Women’s Ceremony
I was blessed to have my dear friend Rev. Zenup from Turkey honor me with an adaption of a traditional Turkish women’s night before wedding ceremony. Four other sisters and I gathered to sing and chant blessings into the lovely jewelry that i was to wear the next day. We joyously and with lots of giggling wrapped belly dancing scarves of myriad colors of reds, blues, yellows, pinks, greens and purples around our hips and breasts so that when we swung our bodies a happy jingling sound erupted over the flashes of thunder and lightening. I wore over my head a red translucent long scarf as the women danced and whirled around me to the sounds of middle eastern drumbeats and singing. Afterwards we collapsed in joy on the sofa and picked cards from a Goddess deck asking each one of us present to embody a Goddess at the Wedding. Celtic Brigidt and Isolt, Egyptian Hathor,Greek Aphrodite, and Abundantia came forth.
Of course we feasted on delicious goodies afterward.

Wedding Day-Ceremony
We arrived at 10 the next morning to supervise the last minute details. We had the ceremony itself outside in the beautiful gardens overlooking the intercostal waterway by the dolphin stage and the reception inside the greenhouse that we had decorated the evening before. As Eric predicted by noon the skies cleared and the sun came out to shine blessings upon us. At a quarter to one I was still in jeans as the guests began to arrive. So everyone got to wait for an hour for me to MerGoddess myself up for the ceremony to begin. I do admit I looked the part of the Goddess meeting her God and everyone said it was worth the wait.
The ceremony which Whitewolf and I cocreated with Doris, Eric’s partner and co guardian of Sacred lands was a combination of Native American, Sufi, Christian and Celtic traditions. There was much humor and laughing as we both did things as tossed a coin to see who would go first in saying our vows.. We had a lovely fairy flower girl and Prince of Bubbles to joyfully announce our entrance. We chose to enter together to greet our guests instead of the ritual giving away of the bride. I sang a song i wrote for Whitewolf and he recited a poem to musical accompaniment that he had written for me.
We passed a mic and a wedding blanket for everyone to bless and then ritually had it tied around us as we had the big kiss and exited to the throwing of rose petals.

Wedding Day- Reception
We invited our guests to join in a circle and sing a song of blessing for the feast of salmon, chicken, salad, vegies, bread, twice baked potatoes that Eric had put together for us. Something Special sang very special fun lively music for us to digest by. My Dad led off the toasts with an eloquent and humorous offering. Richard, the best brother friend sang us a special song. Rev. Zeynup led us all in a few fun line dances which led us to the cake. There we cut the cake and ate every last bit to the delight of all. Bubbles were blown to the dancing of our dance with much laughter and fun. The kids ran through and under the tables to spread the joy of love which surrounded us that day.
At sundown about half the group went to the water to thank Creator for a wonderful day and to send a pulse around the world -something that i do every sundown and that day was even more special. As folks left we heard lots of good hearted cheer echoing in our ears. We cleaned up and then sat by the fire at night to celebrate and congradulate ourselves on a wedding well done.OK so this month was all about the wedding. That’s it folks. next new moon we move onto the new phase of my life.